[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 116 (Tuesday, July 18, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H7073-H7074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LEARNING THE LESSONS OF THE PAST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, the famous admonition that those who cannot 
remember the past are condemned to repeat it is often put another way: 
We must learn the lessons of the past to prevent making similar 
mistakes in the future. When it comes to the safety of the Nation's 
blood supply, this simple adage translates into a message of life and 
death. We know that during the early 1980's blood and blood products 
became tainted with the virus that causes AIDS. The early clues that 
there was a problem manifested themselves in
 the hemophilia community, because people with hemophilia frequently 
use products made from blood that is pooled from thousands of donors. 
We now know that during the early 1980's, approximately one-half of the 
Nation's hemophiliacs--some 8,000 people--became infected with the 
virus that causes AIDS through the use of contaminated blood-clotting 
products.

  How did this happen? Why did the system that was established to 
safeguard the supply of blood and blood products fail to heed early 
warning signs and prove so slow to respond to a dangerous threat? How 
can we prevent such a tragedy from happening again? More than 2 years 
ago, I joined with Senators Graham of Florida and Kennedy of 
Massachusetts in asking HHS Secretary Donna Shalala to conduct a review 
of the events surrounding this medical disaster. The results of that 
intensive and objective review have come to us in the form of a report, 
presented last week by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of 
Medicine--the IOM. The conclusions of this report are important--not 
just for their candor in describing the quote ``Failure of leadership 
and inadequate institutional decisionmaking processes'' unquote to meet 
the challenge of a deadly new blood-borne disease--but also for their 
recommended changes to the system.
  In underscoring the Federal Government's shared responsibility for 
the safety of the blood supply, the report concludes that the FDA--
which has regulatory authority over blood and blood products--quote 
``Consistently chose the least aggressive option that was 
justifiable.'' On several occasions, the report found, the FDA quote 
``Did not adequately use its regulatory authority and therefore missed 
opportunities to protect the public health.'' Unquote. And it notes 
that decisionmakers acted with an
 abundance of caution, seeking to engender quote ``a minimum of 
criticism.'' Unquote. All of these observations led the IOM to 
recommend a series of changes in the way the FDA regulates blood and 
blood products--and improvements in Public Health Service structure to 
yield early and aggressive response to new threats to the blood supply.

  The IOM panel also proposes a no-fault compensation program 
prospectively for future victims of adverse consequences from the use 
of blood and blood products. But what about the 8,000 victims of the 
tragedy that has already happened? Although this question was beyond 
its purview, the IOM suggested that its prospective recommendation 
quote ``Might serve to guide policymakers as they consider whether to 
implement a compensation system for those infected in the 1980's'' 
unquote. And so I ask my colleagues to consider H.R. 1023, a bill I 
introduced in February that now has 110 bipartisan cosponsors. The 
Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act named for a victim from my old 
congressional district, as it is known, establishes a compensation 
program for the victims of hemophilia-associated AIDS. It is based on 
the premise that has now been supported by the IOM report, that 
Government shares responsibility for what happened. It is also based on 
the understanding that blood and blood products are unique--as is the 
Federal responsibility for them.
  We have a national blood policy, put in place in the mid-1970's, that 
says we have a commitment to a safe supply of blood and blood products. 
In fact, as part of our recognition that these are unique resources 
deserving special consideration, we have placed the regulation of blood 
and blood products under the aegis of two separate laws. Mr. Speaker, 
as we learn from the mistakes of the past, let us be sure we stand up 
to our obligations for them. I urge my 

[[Page H 7074]]
colleagues to review H.R. 1023 and I hope that the Judiciary Committee 
will soon hold hearings on this important matter of fair play, as I 
have now requested. We cannot undo the damage, but we can restore some 
faith and provide some relief to victims and their loved ones. That 
would be a good way to go forward.


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